Reviewer:
Joyeuse
-
favoritefavoritefavoritefavoritefavorite -
August 3, 2012
Subject:
The Case of the French Interpreter
The only American television series of Sherlock Holmes aired in syndication in the fall of 1954. It was also known as The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. It was produced by Sheldon Reynolds and filmed in France by Guild Films. It only aired for one season, 39 episodes. Most of the series was filmed in the studio with many stock shots of carriages on London Bridge and near Big Ben. The show was black and white and shot on 35mm film. Even though the show was about Sherlock Holmes, the stories were original. Some of the episodes were based on Arthur Conan Doyle’s stories. For example, “The Case of the French Interpreter" was based on "The Adventure of the Greek Interpreter." The cast of Sherlock Holmes were Ronald Howard as Sherlock Holmes, H. Marion Crawford as Dr. John Watson, and Archie Duncan as Inspector Lestrade. 1940s and 1950s were the classical period of film noir. In this episode, “The Case of the French Interpreter,” which was aired on January 17, 1955, it seems to have some film noir styles. Most of the film noir movies are about private eye, and Sherlock Holmes’s job is a private eye. Moreover, the scene when showing Paul Charon was kidnapped and tortured, it used low key lighting and a type of lighting called chiaroscuro which has obvious light and dark contrasts and lights the center.